OWENSBORO, Ky. (5/10/13) – Junior Achievement of Owensboro celebrated a great victory Thursday as members, supporters, and staff gathered at Legion Park for a “Thank You” cook-out and check presentation.

The State Farm Neighborhood Assist Grant contest received more than 3,000 cause submissions, and from that number, 200 semi-finalists were selected. Junior Achievement of Owensboro was selected as a semi-finalist. The work did not stop there, however. Once selected, Junior Achievement took to Social Media via Facebook to get the votes needed to be selected for a “Top-40” slot, and in the end received the $25,000 grant needed to help fund Junior Achievement’s mission in the Owensboro/Daviess County Area.

With the help of the grant – in addition to JA’s continued support from the community – the program will be able to reach 9,000 local students this school year. Junior Achievement’s total budget will be $165,000 this year, including the State Farm grant. Dan Douglas, President of West Kentucky, took the stage Thursday to thank everyone involved in the voting process that allowed JA of West Kentucky to place 17 out of 40 in the campaign.

“The $25,000 is great, don’t get me wrong,” said Douglas, “But I think the greatest thing that came of all of this is how the community pulled together in support of Junior Achievement to get up this grant.”

“We are currently in a very aggressive expansion to bring JA to areas that have never had this kind of outreach before,” he added.

Junior Achievement of West Kentucky currently covers 16 counties with a total outreach of just under 18,000, with a total budget this year of $350,000 according to Douglas.